Assessment of Recent Reported Knife Crime Incidents and Measures to Provide Personal Safety Assurance at Places of Worship

Questions:

Dr Tan Wu Meng: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the assessment of recent reported incidents of knife crime incidents where individuals use knives to harm others; (b) whether there has been an up-trend and, if so, what are the assessed reasons; and (c) what is being done to ensure that Singaporeans continue to have a safe and secure living environment.

Mr Christopher de Souza: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs in light of the recent knife attack at a place of worship, what is being done beyond higher frequency in Police patrols to provide personal safety assurance at places of worship.

Answer:

Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development:

Mr Speaker,

1. I will address Questions 6941 and 6956, as well as Question 7066 filed by Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim, which is scheduled for a subsequent sitting. I also invite Mr Zhulkarnain to seek clarifications, if needed. If his questions have been answered satisfactorily today, it may not be necessary for him to proceed with his Question 7066.

2. As of November 2024, there were 129 cases of murder, attempted murder, robbery, rioting and serious hurt involving knives in 2024. This is comparable to the number of cases in the preceding three years. Between 2021 and 2023, there was an average of 133 cases a year. None of these crimes occurred at a place of worship, with the sole exception of the knife attack at St Joseph’s Church in November 2024. The Ministry of Home Affairs does not track the cases by whether the offenders had mental health issues.

3. Police officers are trained and equipped to deal with crimes involving knives, and will respond swiftly to neutralise the threat when alerted.

4. When there is information on specific threats or the general threat level is escalated, the Police will step up security measures such as increasing the frequency of patrols. They will also engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that appropriate security measures are put in place.

5. To safeguard public safety, we also limit the sale of certain types of knives and similar offensive weapons which have limited legitimate use. Through the Arms and Explosives Act, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) currently regulates the sale of six of these – daggers, swords, spears, spearheads, bayonets and dangerous bows and arrows. This will be expanded to include flick knives and knuckledusters when the Guns, Explosives and Weapons Control Act is operationalised in the first half of 2025.

6. While the incidence of crimes involving knives is low, it is important nevertheless that we all know how to respond when such attacks occur. The November 2024 incident at St Joseph’s Church is a case in point. Two men helped subdue the attacker, while other members of the congregation provided first aid to the priest. Their actions prevented further casualties, and minimised the injury to the priest, before the authorities arrived on the scene.

7. We must therefore continue to systematically build up the resilience of our society to emergencies, and we have been doing this over the years. The Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force work with building owners and managers across Singapore via the Safety and Security Watch Group, to conduct security audits, share best practices and deliver training on building safety and security awareness. Exercises are regularly conducted to test contingency response plans and ground readiness in the event of emergencies.

8. We also work closely with community and religious organisations, including places of worship, through the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Crisis Preparedness for Religious Organisations programme, where religious organisations participate in security self-assessments, develop contingency plans, and attend counter-terrorism seminars to understand the threat better.

9. Finally, the Ministry of Home Affairs, together with our partner agencies, has also been engaging the broader public through the SGSecure movement. Outreach efforts include sharing advisories such as “Run-Hide-Tell” and “Press-Tie-Tell”, as well as the importance of learning emergency preparedness skills such as first aid, CPR, and the use of AEDs.

10. Together, these measures help ensure a high level of public safety, security awareness and contingency readiness in our society.